新年到底有什么意思？(What's the meaning of a new year?)

“时间无涯，没有所谓的分界，即使新的一个月或一年开始了，自然界不会发出一声雷霆巨响或是号角，喧嚣迎接它们的到来。即使是新的世纪降临，也只是我们这些凡人在猛敲钟，乱开枪一通。”

"Time has no divisions to mark its passage, there is never a thunder-storm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year. Even when a new century begins, it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols."- Thomas Mann, German author, 1929 Nobel Prize laureate.